The new forums will be named Coin Return (based on the most recent vote)! You can check on the status and timeline of the transition to the new forums here.
The Guiding Principles and New Rules document is now in effect.
[IC/OOC] Trail of Cthulhu: The Thousand Faced Moon
Professor Phobos
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
The Game: Trail of Cthulhu is a variant of the classic Call of Cthulhu horror game. Both are horror roleplaying games based on the work of HP Lovecraft, who created something called the "Cthulhu Mythos." If you're not familiar with the Mythos...good! Horror is more effective when it is unknown. There is a heavy focus on investigation; if you do not like mysteries, gathering clues, etc, then you will not enjoy this game. Combat and action sequences will likely be rare and can be extremely deadly- cautious play is smart play. Be prepared to lose investigators, either to physical death or madness.
Trail of Cthulhu uses a different system called GUMSHOE which is specifically tailored towards investigative gaming. Now, I personally prefer the classic BRP rules for tabletop play, but because ToC uses so few dice rolls I feel it'd be better suited to play-by-post.
Don't have Trail of Cthulhu? Not a problem; I intend to walk everyone through character creation. The system is extremely simple and easy to pick up as we go along.
Have Trail of Cthulhu? Great! Since you'll know what this means, it'll be a mostly Purist game, though I'll borrow a couple of the Pulp options. Think of it as a "Somewhat kinder and gentler Purist game."
The unique thing about GUMSHOE is that you never roll for investigative abilities; if you are in a location and have the right skill, you automatically find the clue. You'll only be rolling for things with tension and uncertainty, like jumping over a wall while being pursued by cultists. I'll explain more about the system as we get through character creation and start.
The Play By Post: I am looking for 2-4 players who can post pretty regularly. I tend to go for shorter posts in the third person and a more conversational exchange than the lengthier "short fiction" style that seems the norm for this forum, so being able to post pretty regularly is fairly important. The nice thing about investigative games is that they're fairly ideally suited to play-by-posts; combat is rare and brief (and exceedingly deadly) and it's easy for me to post a lengthy description of, say, a crime scene, everyone does their investigations, then we move on to the next scene.
I don't want to bother with any internet dice rolling thing, so we'll just be on the honor system when it comes to rolls. A lot of the fun in Call of Cthulhu/Trail of Cthulhu is the "reverse leveling" effect; as D&D rewards its players with increased power and capability, Call/Trail characters tend to grow closer and closer to the abyss of personal apocalypse as the game goes on- instead of getting more powerful, you get closer to your own destruction. It can be just as fun, if not moreso, to start with a well-rounded competent adult with a career, psychological stability, good health and a family and end up with a desperate one-armed half-crazed hobo tossing dynamite at cultists to save the day just one more time than it is to work your way up from a farmboy with his father's sword to a god.
The Setting: The game will be set in 1931 New York City. It's the Great Depression- high suicide rate, crime (organized and otherwise), bread lines, despair and fear for the future abound. In addition to HP Lovecraft, a primary inspiration will be Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett- I'm going to go for a gritty horror noir atmosphere.
Warnings: As a horror game, the content will be pretty gruesome. I try to be as tasteful as possible, but the game will deal with dark subject matter- not just violence. Most of the truly vile stuff (rape, incest, child abuse, etc) will be implied and always off screen, but if you're uncomfortable with themes of this nature, I'd bow out. In addition, the 1930s is a racist, sexist and homophobic era and while I try to keep those elements more in the background that he foreground (and we will not be using period slurs at all, however realistic) it will still play a role. Feel free to play a non-white, non-male, non-straight, non-Christian, non-whatever character, but be prepared for it to cause some inconvenience, though it can sometimes be advantageous as well.
The Characters: I try to be pretty flexible about character creation, but characters who would be suited to a noir or crime story in Great Depression New York would be best suited- private investigators, cops, lawyers, etc. However, any character who can get caught up in pursuing the dark secrets of depression-era New York are acceptable. Really, the only character concepts that probably wouldn't work are travel or expeditionary characters like pilots, jungle explorers, etc. We will make characters together to ensure that the group has a well-rounded set of investigative abilities, so you don't need to send me a concept just yet. Trail of Cthulhu characters tend to be competent, professional adults- if you're particularly young, then you're probably pretty talented. They have families, careers, friends, contacts...stuff to lose. Keep that in mind. It is of vital importance that all characters be able to work with the others; if three characters are wealthy American dilettantes and the fourth is an immigrant hobo who doesn't speak English, I will glare at everyone.
My Style: I prefer a collaborative approach to storytelling and I do not see myself as an adversarial Keeper. That being said, both Call and Trail of Cthulhu thrive on a cruel, heartless, uncaring universe where terrible things can happen at any time. So while I won't go out of my way to destroy you, the sheer danger of facing Mythos threats can and will. If you have a question, comment or concern feel free to PM me at any time. If you want a particular subplot for your character started up, we can arrange that via PM. I tend to be a "high shenanigan" sort of Keeper so be prepared to get possessed, lose your memories, experience mystical paradigm shifts, etc.
If you are interested in this game, PM me. Any information vis a vis preferences, prior experience with Cthulhu, etc, would be welcome but again, no experience with Cthulhu is necessary and it can be a detriment to your enjoyment. ("Oh, don't worry, it's just a shoggoth, I know how many hit points they have...") If you have a general idea for a character, send that along, but I don't intend to start up character creation until I have a roster, because, again, the game sort of depends on a well-rounded group.
Trail of Cthulhu uses a different system called GUMSHOE which is specifically tailored towards investigative gaming. Now, I personally prefer the classic BRP rules for tabletop play, but because ToC uses so few dice rolls I feel it'd be better suited to play-by-post.
Don't have Trail of Cthulhu? Not a problem; I intend to walk everyone through character creation. The system is extremely simple and easy to pick up as we go along.
Have Trail of Cthulhu? Great! Since you'll know what this means, it'll be a mostly Purist game, though I'll borrow a couple of the Pulp options. Think of it as a "Somewhat kinder and gentler Purist game."
The unique thing about GUMSHOE is that you never roll for investigative abilities; if you are in a location and have the right skill, you automatically find the clue. You'll only be rolling for things with tension and uncertainty, like jumping over a wall while being pursued by cultists. I'll explain more about the system as we get through character creation and start.
The Play By Post: I am looking for 2-4 players who can post pretty regularly. I tend to go for shorter posts in the third person and a more conversational exchange than the lengthier "short fiction" style that seems the norm for this forum, so being able to post pretty regularly is fairly important. The nice thing about investigative games is that they're fairly ideally suited to play-by-posts; combat is rare and brief (and exceedingly deadly) and it's easy for me to post a lengthy description of, say, a crime scene, everyone does their investigations, then we move on to the next scene.
I don't want to bother with any internet dice rolling thing, so we'll just be on the honor system when it comes to rolls. A lot of the fun in Call of Cthulhu/Trail of Cthulhu is the "reverse leveling" effect; as D&D rewards its players with increased power and capability, Call/Trail characters tend to grow closer and closer to the abyss of personal apocalypse as the game goes on- instead of getting more powerful, you get closer to your own destruction. It can be just as fun, if not moreso, to start with a well-rounded competent adult with a career, psychological stability, good health and a family and end up with a desperate one-armed half-crazed hobo tossing dynamite at cultists to save the day just one more time than it is to work your way up from a farmboy with his father's sword to a god.
The Setting: The game will be set in 1931 New York City. It's the Great Depression- high suicide rate, crime (organized and otherwise), bread lines, despair and fear for the future abound. In addition to HP Lovecraft, a primary inspiration will be Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett- I'm going to go for a gritty horror noir atmosphere.
Warnings: As a horror game, the content will be pretty gruesome. I try to be as tasteful as possible, but the game will deal with dark subject matter- not just violence. Most of the truly vile stuff (rape, incest, child abuse, etc) will be implied and always off screen, but if you're uncomfortable with themes of this nature, I'd bow out. In addition, the 1930s is a racist, sexist and homophobic era and while I try to keep those elements more in the background that he foreground (and we will not be using period slurs at all, however realistic) it will still play a role. Feel free to play a non-white, non-male, non-straight, non-Christian, non-whatever character, but be prepared for it to cause some inconvenience, though it can sometimes be advantageous as well.
The Characters: I try to be pretty flexible about character creation, but characters who would be suited to a noir or crime story in Great Depression New York would be best suited- private investigators, cops, lawyers, etc. However, any character who can get caught up in pursuing the dark secrets of depression-era New York are acceptable. Really, the only character concepts that probably wouldn't work are travel or expeditionary characters like pilots, jungle explorers, etc. We will make characters together to ensure that the group has a well-rounded set of investigative abilities, so you don't need to send me a concept just yet. Trail of Cthulhu characters tend to be competent, professional adults- if you're particularly young, then you're probably pretty talented. They have families, careers, friends, contacts...stuff to lose. Keep that in mind. It is of vital importance that all characters be able to work with the others; if three characters are wealthy American dilettantes and the fourth is an immigrant hobo who doesn't speak English, I will glare at everyone.
My Style: I prefer a collaborative approach to storytelling and I do not see myself as an adversarial Keeper. That being said, both Call and Trail of Cthulhu thrive on a cruel, heartless, uncaring universe where terrible things can happen at any time. So while I won't go out of my way to destroy you, the sheer danger of facing Mythos threats can and will. If you have a question, comment or concern feel free to PM me at any time. If you want a particular subplot for your character started up, we can arrange that via PM. I tend to be a "high shenanigan" sort of Keeper so be prepared to get possessed, lose your memories, experience mystical paradigm shifts, etc.
If you are interested in this game, PM me. Any information vis a vis preferences, prior experience with Cthulhu, etc, would be welcome but again, no experience with Cthulhu is necessary and it can be a detriment to your enjoyment. ("Oh, don't worry, it's just a shoggoth, I know how many hit points they have...") If you have a general idea for a character, send that along, but I don't intend to start up character creation until I have a roster, because, again, the game sort of depends on a well-rounded group.
Professor Phobos on
0
Posts
I've been wanting to play this... I have the book sitting in my room collecting dust atm.
I'll see what I can do with coming up with things
It's an obscure game I certainly didn't expect most people here to have it. It is a very simple system, it won't be hard to explain it.
EDIT: Also, PM sent.
So if anyone else is interested, send me a PM. If you do not send a PM, you are invisible to me. (cough CJ wakura cough cough)
I don't know what this sentence means.
I--
On-Topic Edit: I'm going out of town this weekend, will that be a major issue? Chances are I'll be able to hit up a computer while I'm there or something.
I meant to ask exactly what kind of seedy dives one would encounter in your games. An organ club is a traditional chinese gambling thing, where if you lose you have bits of you removed.
That'll probably take a day at least, so we'll get started later this week.
EDIT: Oh, I've never heard of that. Chinese gambling dens are certainly a possibility, but I have not planned on one.
Being gone this weekend shouldn't be a problem. It's a play-by-post, I'm not going to find out where you live and launch a complicated scheme to ruin your life over it.
I can't exactly say I'm surprised.
PM sent and it looks like I'm on board for this.
Is there? I thought I had all the DG scenarios. What's it called?
Interesting... things you learn.
It's by the Over the Fence guy. Or one of his friends, not an official one.
By all means, ruin my character's life.
I like mine though.
My heritage is riddled with disastrous sea voyages.
Anyway, working on a character concept.
There are twenty Occupations in Trail of Cthulhu. If you absolutely, positively have a concept that doesn't fit within one of those twenty, it is trivially easy to make new Occupations and I will do so if you wish.
The occupations are mostly self explanatory so I won't go into too much detail; feel free to ask any questions you might have. All occupations have a list of "Occupational Abilities", which you get a price discount on, and a special ability. I won't list out all the special abilities here (but I will tell you what yours is when you select an occupation) since most of them are the same- you have contacts in that field. Some are a bit different; Pilots get a plane, for example. They're not powerful enough to affect your choice of Occupation; pick one that seems interesting.
Alienist
Antiquarian
Archaelogist
Artist
Author
Clergy
Criminal
Dilettante
Doctor
Federal Agent
Hobo*
Journalist
Military*
Nurse
Parapsychologist
Pilot*
Police Detective
Private Investigator
Professor
Scientist
*These occupations are probably not well suited to the campaign. Hobos will have trouble in higher society and interacting with non-hobo players, active duty military personnel won't really be running around New York doing whatever, and Pilots...well you won't really be flying anywhere, so a lot of the Occupation is wasted. If you have a really good concept for any of these, you can change my mind. Also if you want to play a military veteran whose primary skill set is still military stuff, then the Military Occupation is appropriate.
Next, comes Drives. Drives are your motivation for investigating weirdness; it's not only why you dive into the introductory scenario, it's why you keep plunging into the dark corners of the Earth.
There are 14 drives. Again, pretty self explanatory.
Adventure
Antiquarianism
Arrogance
Artistic Sensitivity
Bad Luck/Cursed
Curiosity
Duty
Ennui
Follower (Pick another character- you're in it because they are)
In the Blood (weirdness is in the family)
Revenge
Scholarship
Sudden Shock (You're not in it by choice; something ate your brother right in front of you as kids, or you fought something awful in the trenches of WW1, etc)
Thirst for Knowledge (Different from Scholarship in that there you want to bring knowledge to the world, here you just want it for yourself)
You can also take a "Secret" Drive, in which you're not aware of why you feel compelled to investigate weirdness. This is basically just handing me license to concoct a horror backstory for you.
Anyway, feel free to ask for the details on the ones you are interested in.
EDIT: PM me Erich! PM me or you shall go uncounted!
Man, seven players. Try to pick easy to remember character names.
Not really, it's a whole different system. I mean, it's a great book, totally worth having in a gaming collection and playing regularly, but it won't help much, system-wise, and the best possible state to be in when starting with Cthulhu is totally ignorant.
EDIT: Anyone know if it is possible to change thread titles? I want to just turn this into the IC/OOC thread rather than start a new one. I have seen people alter thread titles on this forum in the past, so I thought it was possible.
Or double click the very end of the thread title in the main page.
EDIT: It occurs to me I forgot to mention what Drives actually do. Drives are kind of like a carrot and a stick; if you come across a situation where you or I think you're Drive would compel your investigator to, well, investigate and you obey that compulsion, you'll regain some lost Stability. If you resist, you can lose stability. These are called "Drivers", called "Hard" and "Soft." So if, for example, your Drive was "Duty", specifically to the children under your care. You learn one of them is in danger from cultists; I say "Your drive is compelling you to go do something about that." You say, "No, my character can no longer bear the strain of taking these risks and sits at home, weeping and praying." You'd lose stability for making that choice. If you obeyed, you'd gain some stability, as your character might be taking a risk...but it's in her nature, and there's some comfort in making a choice like that. Kind of a, "Damn it, I'm gonna go rescue that kid" sort of thing.
EDIT II: I'll explain Stability later, but think of it like your ability to deal with stressful situations rationally and effectively. Lose too much Stability, and you go temporarily nuts.
Sanity isn't recoverable, except in ULTRA-PULP games. It represents your faith in the pleasant lies of science and religion.
Imagine a normal man who knows that the end of all things is near.(LOW sanity, high/normal Stability)
Or, a gentleman who has seen too much but is still firmly attached to society's trappings.(Med/low Sanity High Stability)
Cultists usually have zero sanity but high stability; they're in command of their actions, but their actions are fundamentally inhuman.
Think of the mythos like psychological plutonium; exposure to it causes the mind to sicken and die. (I.e., causes sanity loss)
More thought is going into this.
And right now I'm leaning toward police investigator with a secret drive.
I quote from the book-
"A specialist in mental illness, you may be a Vienna trained psychoanalyst, a neurologist, or a medical doctor with a strong interest in the behavorial scientists."
So, not really.
Oh, no. Alienists is an archaic term for what we call Psychologists, Psychiatrists, Psychotherapists and Psychoanalysts these days.
If you're an Alienist, you're basically in one of three categories- you're a Vienna trained/trained by a Vienna trained Freudian psychoanalyst, you're one of the early (EARLY) neuroscientists whose probably quite taken with the cutting edge surgical technique of lobotomies, or you're a medical doctor with a side interest in human behavior.
On the bright side, when you use the equivalent of psychological first aid, you get a bonus, so you're good to have around just to keep the other characters sane.
If you're looking for someone into the weird and the unusual, the Parapsychologist is the way to go.
Don't make me pull out my ruler... I WILL rap your knuckles :P
Edit: I'm not in the habit of tolerating cheek.